In talking about calliope construction a question was raised about how
to make multiple solder joints and not have the earlier solder joints
come apart.
The answer is that solder, not leaded solder, is available in a variety
of "hardness" ratings which correspond to melting temperature. It is
quite common in the jewelry industry to use "hard" solder on the first
pieces soldered together and "medium" for the next pieces following up
with "soft" for the final pieces. These are precious metal bearing
solders, not plumbing solders.
Solder may be paste or sheet or strip, or whatever. The proper flux is
required. All alloys have melting points in excess of plumbing solder
and tensile strengths far above, as well. All will work well on copper.
I suggest browsing the catalog at Rio Grande, Inc
http://www.riogrande.com
in the metals section for silver solder.
Note that the paste solder, which includes flux, while handy also has
a nasty habit of drying into a solid lump if not used promptly.
Regards,
Phil Duclos
[ Many varieties of solder are offered at
[ http://www.riogrande.com/MemberArea/SearchPage.aspx?page=GRID&category|category_root|126=Soldering%20Equipment%20and%20Supplies&category|cat_126|4428=Solder
[ -- Robbie